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Tuesday, January 08, 2013

Bret Stephens writes that, while Chuck Hagel has physical courage as he demonstrated in Vietnam, he lacks political courage as he has demonstrated that he was always willing to go with the flow. It didn't take courage to be for the war in Iraq before he was against it. But why criticize him for that. So were John Kerry and Hillary Clinton. In fact, his positions on foreign and defense policy roughly parallel Barack Obama's so why should anyone be surprised that he picked someone with Hagel's policies on Iran or Hamas? In fact the only political courage he's demonstrated is his bashing of what he likes to call the "Jewish lobby." Some courage.

Stephen Hayes looks at what the nomination of Chuck Hagel says about Obama's approach to Iran. Hagel was one of only two Republicans to oppose labeling Iran's Qods Force as a terrorist group despite ample evidence that they were working with those killing Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, Hagel wanted to open up a diplomatic section in Teheran and thinks that all military options on Iran should be off the table. Some message to deliver to Iran.

Obamacare's tax on medical devices that may lead to the loss of over 40,000 jobs is a tax that even Ghuck Schumer as well as many other Democrats representing states where these industries reside dislike. Of course, that didn't lead him to the slightest quaver in voting for Obamacare. Though it is rather amazing to hear a Democrat admit that increased taxes on business will lead to job losses. They seem to be unaware of that connection in other instances.

I'm saddened to hear of the death of Richard Ben Cramer. His history of the 1988 election, What it Takes, is the best political history I've ever read. If you haven't ever read it, I heartily recommend it.

1 comment:

So Hagel is criticized for being "always willing to go with the flow", and later is criticized for not joining the majority of republicans.

Actually, it does take much courage to admit that the war in Iraq was a mistake after initially supporting it. It must weigh heavily on the conscience of a person to know that he/she supported such a devastating action that we now know was based on false and/or misleading information.